Rodrigo Duterte: Shoot a drug dealer, get a medal

The Philippines' president-elect has urged citizens with guns to shoot and kill drug dealers.

05 Jun 2016 15:41 GMT

Duterte will be sworn in as the new Philippines president on June 30 [Cerilo Ebrano/EPA]

The Philippines' President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has encouraged the public to go after drug dealers, urging citizens with guns to shoot and kill them.

In a nationally televised speech late on Saturday, Duterte, who will be sworn in on June 30, told a huge crowd in the southern city of Davao that he will offer huge bounties to those who turn in drug lords - dead or alive.

"Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun - you have my support," Duterte said.

The 71-year-old has been previously accused of running vigilante "death squads" during his more than two decades as mayor of Davao, a city of about two million people that he says he has turned into one of the nations safest.

Human rights watchdogs have expressed alarm that Duterte's anti-crime drive may lead to widespread rights violations.

Duterte and other Filipino officials have previously brushed aside warnings from human rights groups about the dangers of "vigilante justice".